19 NOVEMBER 2018

Maloney Calls For Public Enquiry

By Clive Bernath: Frank Maloney, the promoter of Friday night’s English heavyweight title fight between John McDermott and Tyson Fury, wants the British Boxing Board of Control to hold a public enquiry following Fury’s controversial 10 round points.

At the end of 10 entertaining and highly charged rounds it certainly appeared as though McDermott’s greater experience, quality of punches and come forward aggression was enough to see him home handily by at least three rounds, but referee Terry O’Connor saw the fight differently and somehow made Fury the winner by an unbelievably wide margin of 98 points to 92.

It is certainly not unusual for a promoter to vent his anger when a verdict goes against his fighter but lets be honest Maloney and indeed the seemingly luckless John McDermott can consider themselves extremely hard done by.

In fact Maloney was so disgusted by O’Connor’s decision he has branded the former pro fighter ‘a disgrace’

Speaking after the fight on Friday night Maloney told Sky Sports: "I’m sure I will be called up before the Board(British Boxing Board OfControl) for my behaviour but Terry O’Connor is a disgrace to British boxing for what he’s done here tonight.""Why do I want to be in the business when you’re getting robbed? At least Dick Turpin has a mask on when he robs you."

Even the day after the fight Maloney was still fuming, and insists he wants a public inquiry: "I have spoken to the Chairman of the Board, Charles Giles who has informed me that the Board are making the matter their priority on Monday morning.

"This has done the biggest damage to British boxing since I fell in love with the sport at the age of ten.

"This is something the Board cannot brush under the carpet. I am going to ask that any enquiry into the fight is held in public - not behind closed doors like a gentleman’s club.

"That way there are no secrets and the public can see that the self appointed governing body are open and fair with all licence holders. It will also help restore confidence after this debacle.

"If The Board think they can order a rematch and that I will then go away happy then they can think again.

"When I paid a record purse for an English title fight I expected fair play. I never got it, paying customers never got it, Sky television viewers never got it and most of all John never got it." "This isn’t just going to go away and I won’t allow it to until justice is done."

Maloney has also said that he wants the results changed to either a no contest or reversed to a McDermott points win but in all likelihood the best he can hope for is an immediate rematch with an equal split of the purse. And that’s the very least that John McDermott deserves.

Maybe while the British Boxing Board of Control are discussing Friday’s bout they should also consider introducing a mandatory three judges system for ALL bouts taking place under their jurisdiction with immediate effect. After all, we have been using this system for British title fights and the hugely successful Prizefighter series for a while now. Ok, injustice in the opinion of the individual will still happen and it will prove costly to promoters but it is on the whole still the fairest system and will take away the onus in responsibility of one man making a decision.